Don’t let this image of tropical tranquility fool you…

Seismic instability continues on the Pacific Rim this week with a magnitude 7 earthquake recorded off the coast of Papua New Guinea early this morning (just after 05h00 Australian Eastern Standard Time). The tremor struck at a depth of 202km and was centred 137km north of Lae, Papua New Guinea’s second-largest city.

Unlike last week, when a series of magnitude 8 quakes shook the Aceh region of Indonesia, and were felt as far away as India and Thailand, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre has not issued a tsunami warning for the region, saying no destructive Pacific-wide tsunami was expected.

Papua New Guinea is not very densely populated, but like nearby Indonesia, it sits atop the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, a belt of seismically active volcanoes and tectonic fissures arranged around the entire Pacific Ocean.

Fortunately, there was no major panic this morning in Papua New Guinea following the tremor, unlike last week in Indonesia where thousands vacated their homes and low-lying regions when a tsunami warning was issued. Papua New Guinea was struck by a magnitude 6.7 quake just last month which struck too deep to cause too much damage.

The magnitude 7 quake struck 137 km north of Papua New Guinea’s second largest city.

[Source: Times LIVE, News.com.AU]